A web designer and developerwith over 14 years’ commercial experience

I’ve been working with websites since I was in secondary school, and don’t let the boyish looks fool you, that was a long time ago. I’m currently working as a freelancer for a number of agencies but also working directly with smaller clients.

My design career

I remember the exact moment I decided I wanted to be a designer. I was 10 years old and watching TV with my parents when one of the old BBC2 idents came on. I remember thinking they were brilliant and turned to my dad and said ‘Dad, who thinks of these adverts?‘, ‘Graphic Designers‘ he (somewhat incorrectly) replied. ‘I’m going to be one of those‘ I stated, and little did he know, one day I actually was.

Fast forward a few years and despite a brief dalliance with the idea of becoming an RAF fighter pilot, I had just completed my final GCSE graphic design project – a packaging concept for Cadbury’s Creme Eggs designed with paper and rulers and built out of cardboard – it was then that I decided I needed my own computer. I worked full-time straight out of secondary school, and combined with my 4 years’ worth of paper round savings I was able to buy my first computer pretty quickly. I downloaded Paint Shop Pro and later Photoshop and taught myself as best I could, eventually deciding to go back to college and take a BTEC in Graphic Design, to teach myself the non-technical skills and theory required.

Straight out of college I was offered a job at a local agency and deferring my university place I began what could be called my career, my passion or my life. Onwards and upwards and a few bigger, better agencies later I decided to branch out on my own. The rest as they say, is history.

So what do I actually do?

I’m a problem solver. Obviously by that I don’t mean that I’m a hitman (but how cool would that be?), I mean that I fix things. Most people look at things and see barriers, reasons that certain outcomes can’t be produced, but when I look at them – provided I’m told which outcomes to look for – I can find them. Oddly enough this has led me to a career in design. I guess it’s similar in a way. The client wants to communicate something on a level that they themselves don’t understand, and I’m able to.